Hotline

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT HOTLINE - PAGE 5

If you're home alone and need someone to talk to, the "Grandma, Please!" hotline is at your fingertips. From 3-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, you can call and talk to an adult volunteer who is trained to be there for you. Just dial 312-271-0000. (It's a good idea to let your folks know about this service, in case they want to check it out. The hotline is run by the Uptown Center Hull House Association, a group that provides social services.)

Now the man in your life can get guidance in selecting clothing gifts for you. Anne Klein II-for the first time this year targeting men in advertisements-has created a hotline to dispense color, style and size advice. Call 1-800-451-6900.

Food Justice Programs, 319 S. Jefferson St., is offering help to needy families looking for food for the Christmas holiday by sponsoring a hotline to help them find neighborhood food pantries. For more information call 663-5470 between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

American Airlines employees who used to dial 1-800-AA-CARTY to hear a message from their CEO Don Carty may be in for a big surprise now that Gerard Arpey has taken over. 1-800-AA-ARPEY currently leads callers to a sex hotline.

Chicago's Off-Loop theater revolves around places like Clark, Broadway and Halsted streets. But for many actors, showtime begins months before with a call to a theatrical matchmaker in a red-sided ranch home in Hoffman Estates. The calls come into 976-CAST, a Chicago-area actors hotline begun six-years ago as a purely voluntary effort on the part of Elayne LeTraunik, a northwest suburban mother and actress. It was after thousands of calls rang her phone off the hook and wore through four answering machines that LeTraunik finally set up a 900 number last year in an effort to satisfy caller demand.

CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION: For questions, referrals and crisis intervention call the state Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 800-252-2873 or the Foresters National Child Abuse Hotline at 800-4-A-CHILD. For information about prevention, write to National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, P.O. Box 2866, Chicago, Ill. 60690. ALZHEIMER'S: It is a major form of mental impairment. Among older people, Alzheimer's affects the parts of the brain that control thought, memory and language. Symptoms include confusion and inability to carry out everyday tasks.

The following sources can be helpful to renters having problems with a neighbor: - The Metropolitan Tenants Organization and the Lakeview Tenants Organization hotline. (They share the same phone line, but are separate groups.) Call 312-549-1986 from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. - The Rogers Park Tenants Committee hotline. Call 312-973-7888 from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday. - The community relations department of your local police district or department, which can provide advice on dealing with a problem neighbor.

- Because of a production error, the About the Town column in some home delivered copies of the July 17 Tribune incorrectly carried the logo for the Hometowns column by Eric Zorn. Wednesday's About the Town column was written by Patrick Reardon. - An item in some editions of the July 12 Tribune reported incorrectly that the Illinois Secretary of State had set up a hotline for Downstate residents to call to protest erroneous Chicago parking tickets. In fact, the hotline (1-800-336-2446)

Slim Fast Foods is recalling more than 1 million cans of three popular diet shakes, saying the drinks may make people ill. The drinks, manufactured in Covington, Tenn., were recalled after hundreds of consumers complained of an "off taste" and five people reported getting sick, the company said. "There was a flaw in the manufacturing system, which allowed some incorrect balance of ingredients," said John Gould, a spokesman for parent company Unilever in New York. Consumers can return 11-ounce cans of Creamy Milk Chocolate, Cappuccino Delight and Strawberries and Cream flavors for a full refund to stores where the beverages were purchased, according to a company hotline.

Stephanie Weber's mother took her life when Weber was 31 years old and raising four children of her own. "I was with my husband on the University of Notre Dame campus," Weber recalls. "The first person who came to the house was his boss's wife, who gave me a hug and said, 'My mother did the same thing a year ago. We don't speak the word on this campus.'" The word, of course, was "suicide. " The year was 1979. An academic adviser suggested Weber enroll in art history and join the Red Cross - "with the other faculty wives.